After winning the hearts of critics and audience worldwide for his film Season's Greetings, author-turned-director Ram Kamal Mukherjee is gearing up for his third feature, Rickshawala, that he shot in Kolkata.
It has been selected at the prestigious ImagineIndia International Film Festival in Madrid, Spain, and also been selected at 11th International Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
Starring Bollywood actor Avinash Dwivedi and Sangita Sinha in the lead, the film has already fetched Best Actor and Best Director awards at 13th Ayodhya International Film Festival.
Produced by Aritra Das, Gaurav Daga and Shhailendra Kkumar, the film revolves around contemporary issues of unemployment and migrant oppression in India.
"I am happy that our film has been selected for prestigious festivals in Melbourne and Madrid. I wanted to tell a simple story and since I have spent my childhood in North Kolkata, so I wanted to tell this story of rickshaw pullers," says director Ram Kamal Mukherjee. The film has music by Neerajan Saha and edited by Pronoy Dasgupta.
Melbourne International Indian Film Festival is considered as one of the most prestigious festivals worldwide. The festival curator Uma da Cunha says, "Ram Kamal's film is a telling depiction of the disparities and hardship faced by a migrant whose life encompasses the travails of the needy in cosmopolitan Kolkata".
This year the festival will be celebrated virtually from October 23 onward. Last year IFFM was attended by celebs like Shah Rukh Khan, Tabu, Arjun Kapoor, Vijay Sethupathi, Gayathrie Shankar, Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Sriram Raghavan, and Rima Das. The 7-day festival will screen over 60 films from all across India and the subcontinent in over 22 languages.
Rickshawala will also participate in the Love Section at Imagineindia International Film Festival in Madrid this November.
Bollywood actor Avinash Dwivedi who is winning the hearts of critics with his soul-stirring performance feels that the film industry needs to accept newer talents. "I am thankful to Ram Kamal for casting me in this film. He could have easily opted for names, but he preferred to cast someone new that shows his faith in the subject and the actor he prefers to work with," says Avinash.
Debutante Sangita Sinha who plays the female lead, says, "Ram Kamal actually spent days reading and enacting the scenes with me and Avinash. I was very nervous but he makes everyone so comfortable and you don't even realise when he extracts performances from you".
Produced under the banner of Assorted Motion Pictures and GeeDee Films the movie has been shot by Modhura Palit who was awarded last year at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival last year.
The film pays humble tribute to legendary actor Om Puri who played the role of Rickshawala in Roland Joffe's City of Joy.